FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 16, 2018
Contact: Cheryl Gleason (916) 273-5712
cheryl@cordovacouncil.org
Art beyond sight? Exhibit offers Insights
What if you were an artist, but could not see? What if you were blind, but yearned to experience art?
Those are questions explored by “Insights: Art Beyond the Eyes,” opening at The MACC (Mills Station Arts and Culture Center) Wednesday, March 21 for a four-day exhibit, open to the public. Admission is free of charge.
Insights is being presented in cooperation with the California Council of the Blind, which is meeting in Rancho Cordova March 22-25 for its state convention.
The exhibit includes the works of nine artists who are low vision or blind, and the works of three sighted artists, created with low or no vision art lovers in mind.
Featured will be artists Alice Wingwall (photographer, sculptor, film), Angela Palmer (ceramicist, Mosaics), Noel Runyan (mixed media using computer parts and lapidary), Jennifer Justice (woodwork), Laura Legendary (braille jewelry), George Wurtzel (woodwork), Sheela Gunn-Cushman (Jewelry), Deborah Kent-Stein (sculptor) and Robin Patche (mixed media), who have excelled in art even though they do not have the advantage of excellent eyesight.
Artists Garey Porter, Michele Burr and Lyla Paakkanen will be exhibiting works created for enjoyment by the blind – tactile pieces which run contrary to the old art exhibit dictum of “Don’t Touch the Art.” In this case, it’s mandatory.
For example, Porter, a Viet Nam Vet, creates wood bas reliefs of images which impacted him while visiting churches and Abbey’s in England. Burr’s focus on the female figure using glass casting, bronze and metal is both seductive and playful. Paakkanen’s 10’x4’ panel of a dragon uses impasto acrylic paint and raised scales to make a traditionally two-dimensional work into three dimensions.
The works include carved wood pieces, jewelry, prints, paintings, sculpture and more.
An artists’ reception will be held from 5-8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 21, and gives the public a chance to chat with the artists about their work. There is no admission charge for the reception.
The reception will be accompanied by “Beethoven and Friends Chamber Ensemble,” a chamber orchestra affiliated with the Rancho Cordova Civic Light Orchestra.
The exhibit will also be open from 3-6 p.m. Friday, March 23, and from noon-6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, March 24-25.
“Insights is a thought-provoking exhibit which challenges the definition of an art exhibit,” said Cheryl Gleason, MACC Coordinator and curator for the show. “Art is for everyone and should be by everyone. Insights asks us to think about art in a new way.”
This is the second exhibit this month at The MACC, which occupies the ground floor of the century-old historic Mills Station Building, located at the Mather/Mills Station Light Rail Station at 10190 Mills Station Road. For more information visit www.rcmacc.org.
Produced by the Cordova Community Council and supported by the City of Rancho Cordova Community Enhancement Fund, Insights is appropriate for art lovers of all ages. Descriptions and other information at the exhibit will be posted in both print and braille, giving all visitors an opportunity to experience art and more from a new point of view – including relying on the sense of touch rather than sight.
In addition to the Insights exhibit, those wishing to support the California Society of the Blind through a dinner experience can purchase tickets to “Dining in the Dark,” a fundraising gala featuring dinner prepared by Christine Ha, a blind chef and winner of the third season of television’s “Master Chef” competition show. The event will be held at the Sacramento Marriott Rancho Cordova on Thursday, March 23.
Guests will be invited to enjoy their meals wearing eye shades in low light conditions and will utilize their other senses to maximize a unique culinary experience. The event also includes an auction and dance, hosted by Dan and Michelle, from MIX 96.1 radio station. Tickets are $75 and available at cccbnet.org.
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